Hickory Smoked Pork Shoulder with Sweet-Tangy Barbecue Sauce
Even when living in a foreign country, the Fourth of July is always a special occasion for us. So we fired up our ugly barrel drum smoker and cooked one mean pork shoulder. We made pulled pork sandwiches out of the finished product which turned out fantastic. This sauce wasn’t perfect for the sandwiches but it still tasted really good. If you make it, keep in mind that most of the flavors won’t come out until it’s cooled – and the shoulder crust will have a LOT of flavor itself from the dry rub. I just wished I had thought ahead a bit more and made some coleslaw too.
Last night we sliced off a few pieces from the roast and made sandwiches again. But we topped it with a different kind of sauce (which I can’t believe I haven’t blogged about yet), a bit of lettuce from our garden and a little mayo. YUM!
We still have a bit left for tonight. I’m thinking about enchiladas with it but I’m not sure there’s enough. At any rate, I see more smoked brisket/pork shoulder in our future. It’s well worth the 5-7 hour wait!
Hickory Smoked Pork Shoulder with Carolina Barbecue Sauce
Serves 6 to 8.
Hickory Smoked Pork Shoulder Ingredients
- 1 6- to 7-pound pork shoulder
- 2 teaspoons granulated garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 3 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons granulated onion powder
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
Sweet-Tangy Barbecue Sauce Ingredients
- 2 cups cider vinegar (I used brandy-wine vinegar since I didn’t have cider vinegar)
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider (I used apple wine)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 1/2 tablespoon dry rub ingredients (above)
Directions for the pork
- Mix all the spices together. Rub the entire shoulder with dry spice mixture, reserving 1/2 tablespoon for the sauce. Refrigerate shoulder for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
- Place the shoulder in a grill or smoker with hickory chips or chunks that is preheated to 265 degrees and has smoke present. Place the pork indirectly over the heat source and smoke it for 5 to 7 hours, or until the shoulder reaches an internal temperature of 185 degrees for sliced pork shoulder and 190 degrees for pulled pork shoulder. If you are using wood chips and a grill, the chips should be soaked and applied about every 40 minutes.
- When the shoulder has reached the desired temperature, remove the meat, and allow it to rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Use immediately or cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Directions for Sweet-Tangy Barbecue Sauce
- Combine all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Place over medium heat and allow to cook slowly for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature. Check the seasoning and use immediately or put into a storage container, cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate.
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8 Responses to “Hickory Smoked Pork Shoulder with Sweet-Tangy Barbecue Sauce”
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- No Ordinary Homestead » The Lanternfest 2009 – Saturday was full of food, friends & FUN - [...] eat and then grab our usual spot on the corner before the parade started at 9pm. For dinner we ...
Tiffany is an American who has been living in Germany with her husband since 2001. The two are self-proclaimed "Self-Reliant Yuppies" who are in their early-30's and bought an 1830's farmhouse several years ago, which they have been turning into a more sustainable and green dream house. Two cats, a Newfie and their 2 year old daughter enjoy the adventure with them. Tiffany enjoys cooking, rock climbing, lux-camping trying to turn her black thumbs green and taking road trips. Visit the 
So is this—’you can take the girl out of Texas but you can’t take the Texas out of the girl’? My husband does a great! smoked shoulder/butt. We have an off-set smoker and he has it down to a science…along with the best TX brisket you can find east of the Mississippi.
Absolutely! I will always be a Texas girl at heart. We eat more Southern & Tex-Mex food here at home than German. I don’t even really know how to cook anything German, actually. I should probably change that but that’s just going to have to wait for another year. Maybe once we move away I’ll get interested in it – you always want what you can’t have, right?
Right! I still make schnitzel and sauerbraten all the time…since I can’t get it anywhere when I go out. (and I think I am a good cook
) Birthday dinner requests are often rotkohl mit apfel and schitzel. I did learn a lot of home cooking ‘secrets’ from my neighbors. My neighbor Uschi made the best Kloss. One thing I can’t get here is Eierlikörkuchen….have a recipe but no eierlikör. oh well. I do get brisket!
Hi Tiffany, just found your interesting blog while looking for fellow Americans living in Germany. I’m what I call a 50/50 (German Army brat). It can be wierd sometimes living between 2 different worlds, but I wouldn’t want to miss having had the experience! I lived in Texas few years and yes, I do miss the BBQ (and the weather)…my Dad barbecued in Fredericksburg, that was the best ever. That was years ago, but I still have great memories about that. Anyway, you have a wonderful blog and I’ll be visiting more often.
Greetings,
Siggie
@Janet – My MIL makes a mean schnitzel. That’s one of the things I’m going to have to learn to make before we leave Germany…Sauerbraten too perhaps. Handkaes will also be on my list! Did you know you can make Eierlikoer yourself? I just searched for it in google with rezept & selbst machen….here’s a couple variations, depending on what you have at home
http://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/561551154266130/Eierlikoer-selbst-gemacht.html
http://www.essen-und-trinken.de/rezept/3401/eierlikoer-selbst-gemacht.html
@Siggie – Thanks for dropping in! I’m looking forward to checking out your blog. Always nice to meet another expat even if they’ve been here for ages & are essentially German now. There are always a few things that stay with you from the U.S
I SO miss the weather from Texas…even more so from Miami. Don’t know what we were thinking when we considered that move…guess no one told us about the weather and we forgot to research it lol.
Hi Tiffany- thanks for the recipes…will see about making it sometime soon.
Haven’t been able to find Quark since you sent the Handkase recipe. bummer
Could you maybe try cottage cheese? I know it’s not exactly the same but it could give a similar effect since quark is usually just cheese curds…
Now I’m thinking I need to head to the market this weekend and pick up some Handkäse. Mmmmh….
I agree the 4th and BBQ go hand &hand I also made a pork butt with a bit more to the rub mainly cause my 3 year old loves it. Pound for pound it’s tough to beat this piece of meat for an alaround crowd pleaser.